Echinacea purpurea*

This species is extinct in the wild in Michigan, although it is extremely common in restoration plantings, reconstruction plantings, and it is widely available in many retail outlets. Please be aware, many large-scale nurseries and "box-stores" are selling hybrids, cultivars, and other human-manipulated stock which likely is a far cry from the original species that graced the prairies and savannas of the Midwest. According to Voss, there were only two documented native populations of this species in Michigan. One was Gull Prairie in Richland, which is now mostly farmed and/or used for livestock studies. The other was an unknown locality listed as occurring in St. Joseph county. From the occurrence maps I have seen and the pioneer accounts I have read, I strongly suspect the northern range of this species was increased by Native Americans. Our seeds are from wild populations in Illinois as the population in Kalamazoo county has been gone for many, many, many decades.